In a statement released this week, the Catholic Church of Burundi raised concerns about numerous irregularities observed during the parliamentary and communal council elections, questioning whether such issues might undermine the credibility of the announced results.
Archbishop Bonaventure Nahimana, head of the Gitega Diocese and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi, read the statement. While he acknowledged that the elections were held in a generally peaceful environment and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) carried out its duties well including offering guidance where needed he also pointed out several serious irregularities that marred the process.
What the Catholic Church Criticized
The Church reported that in several cases, polling stations were opened earlier than the legally designated time, before the arrival of party representatives and observers. This meant those key stakeholders were unable to verify that ballot boxes were empty or witness the swearing-in of polling station officials.
In other instances, while polling stations opened on time, observers and party agents arrived to find ballot boxes already partially filled in a suspicious manner.
The Church also noted breaches of impartiality expected from election officials. Some officials allegedly pressured voters to vote for certain candidates, cast ballots on behalf of others without their consent, or accompanied voters into the booths undermining the secrecy of the vote.
There were also reports of some voters using multiple voting cards, voting more than once, or casting votes on behalf of others all clear violations of electoral integrity. Additionally, some party representatives and observers were denied their legal rights, including entry to polling stations and participation in the counting process. In some cases, observers were even forced to sign reports that had not been legally validated.
Moreover, there were polling stations where party agents were denied the right to monitor the vote-counting process, even though they were legally entitled to do so.
The Burundi Bishops’ Conference concluded, “Based on what our observers witnessed, we believe there is still a long way to go in ensuring transparent and fair elections in Burundi. We seriously question whether these irregularities have compromised the legitimacy of the announced results.”
The parliamentary and communal council elections were held on Thursday, June 5, 2025. On Wednesday, June 11, the Independent National Electoral Commission released provisional results.
According to those results, the ruling CNDD-FDD party won a sweeping majority with 96.51% of the vote, effectively securing its control over the National Assembly for the next five years.
Photo Credit: CATHOLIC CHURCH OF BURUNDI
